200 Housing benefits tenants are served section 21 notice by Kent Landlord

13:27 PM, 9th January 2014, About 11 years ago 50

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Kent based Landlord Mr Fergus Wilson reported to the press that he has served section 21 notices to more than 200 tenants on housing benefits asking them to leave after six months.

Mr Wilson has a portfolio of over 1000 properties and has decided not to rent in the future to tenants claiming housing benefit preferring instead tenants from Eastern Europe who he says are more likely to pay their rent on time.

Mr Wilson said, “this decision is only down to money it has nothing to do with the personalities involved.

“When it comes to money over half of people on benefits were defaulting on their rent, and when it comes to people who are working, we’ve not had one single person default on one single penny. You can appreciate why. Rents are going up in line with the price of houses and housing benefit levels are dropping at the same time.

“Tenants from eastern Europe, places like Poland, have been here a number of years now and have built up a good enough credit rating to rent privately. We won’t see the impact of more recent migration for years to come, but people on benefits are having to compete with them.

“My message to people is get yourself a job, and you will get yourself a house.”

Mr Wilson also added “The problem is that you have a finite number of houses, but more people wanting to rent them than places are available. With that pressure, what tends to give is the poorest people at the bottom of the economic pile.

“We are going to be in a position in the next 20 years where it becomes more and more difficult for people to find housing, and no one seems to have an answer. You tell people in a place like Ashford that they need more housing and they’re likely to lynch you they are sick of being built on, but it’s a fact.”

The NLA has also released a statement regarding this story in the press:

Chief Executive Officer, Richard Lambert said, “our current research shows we’re seeing more and more landlords moving away from renting to tenants claiming benefits.

“It was widely assumed that rent rises were fueled by housing benefit, and that if benefit rates were reduced, rents would fall back to meet them. That’s been shown to be a completely false assumption. There are many wider factors affecting rent levels, principally the availability of properties and the number of people looking to rent.

“As the Welfare Reform agenda has progressed over the past three years, benefit levels haven’t kept up with rents, meaning it’s a greater risk for landlords renting to tenants who rely on benefits, which is why they are looking more and more to working tenants who don’t tend to fall into arrears that easily. The fact is that there are many more working tenants looking to rent because it is still so difficult for first-time buyers to get onto the housing ladder. “However, we know of many landlords who have rented to housing benefit tenants on for many years and have never had a problem, so our advice would be to always look at every tenant on an individual basis.

“Being a landlord is a business and there are landlords who specialise in letting in the housing benefit market. They tend to be the more experienced landlords with larger portfolios, who understand how to manage tenancies to ensure stability and minimise the risk of arrears.”

The following interview with Fergus Wilson appears courtesy of Property Tribes

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Tags: fergus wilson, housing Benefits, Housing Benefits tenants, NLA, section 21, tenants

Comments

Neil Patterson

13:38 PM, 9th January 2014, About 11 years ago

It is also interesting to see the flip side to all the scare stories of immigrants coming over to claim benefits and that Eastern Europeans have now been here long enough to pass reference checks.

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Andrew Miller

13:41 PM, 9th January 2014, About 11 years ago

different ball game up North glut of houses declining rents and shortage of tenants. We are fighting over social tenants and so are the social providers

just another example of the depth of the north side divide

policies introduced by Central government to solve southern problems will exasperate the problems in the north

solution - send your excess tenants to the North

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Jamie M

14:08 PM, 9th January 2014, About 11 years ago

A clear example of another failed Labour policy to socially engineer things by paying those who can't cope their rent and give them the responsibility to pay it to the landlord.

Here is a multiple choice question
If a long term DSS tenant gets £1000 paid into their bank account for their rent
Do they
A. Buy a new flat screen TV?
b. upgrade their mobiles and TV subscription?
c. buy iPads for the kids?
d. drink and smoke most of it?
d. pay off any other debits they have?
e. go for a wee well deserved break somewhere?
f. pay their landlord the rent on time?

Answers welcome

With no consequences at all, a lot of these people choose to abuse the system, landlords and others, knowing the LA's will rehouse them eventually and with the LA's encouraging them to stay put whilst the poor landlord tries to get them out over a six month period, well its party time each month with a wad of cash to spend.
Idiotic and moronic policies from people using those that can't/don't/won't cope, as their voting electorate all the while enslaving them. What a total mess we are in and no one will admit it.
Thanks politicians, I too will never take on another DSS tenant ever, they have all been in my experiences, a hugely expensive and abusive nightmare, much like our politicians and many council people and policy makers who have destroyed the social fabric of GB.

Give me an employed person or a Pole any day
They have a sense of whats right and wrong and do not expect to be rescued their whole lives.
Taking responsibility for where we are and all of our actions is the bedrock of a successful society, the UK lost that many years ago. So sad!

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Chris Lees

14:13 PM, 9th January 2014, About 11 years ago

Well said, Jamie.

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Mark Alexander - Founder of Property118

14:18 PM, 9th January 2014, About 11 years ago

I am extremely pleased this story is being promoted so well and being picked up by the National Press.
.

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Andrew Miller

14:35 PM, 9th January 2014, About 11 years ago

HB claimants are a specialist area if you wise up , check applicants out carefully and take home owner guarantors you can make it work. In fact we now collect more rent in now than we did in the pre LHA days of payment direct to landlords. in addition we have no HB claw backs!

Payment direct to tenants works because it make landlords more responsible/ professional and careful.

I am happy with it but I do want it rolled out to the social sector. Labour introduced it and the Tories though promising to set it aside have not done so. However it was always intended by labour that it would be rolled out to the public sector and IDS refers are well over due. Roll on UC and force the local authorities and RSL to step up to the same mark

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Jeremy Smith

14:41 PM, 9th January 2014, About 11 years ago

If people reckon that foreign people, say eastern europeans, are taking houses and claiming benefits here, a humourous solution would be for local authorities to buy housing stock in east european countries, then when a claimant comes along from that country, they can provide a house for them, and the housing stock has only cost the LA the going rate in that country, thus releasing/not tying up a house here that a UK national could have.
..He/She might have trouble signing on every other week at the local UK jobcentre though !!
..Perhaps the UK could be considerate enough to open one in his/her local town, so they don't have to return to britian to sign on each fortnight !!

((...Please take this with the humour it is intended, previously people have got on their high horse if someone posts anything resembling a joke!! ))

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Tom Doolin

15:38 PM, 9th January 2014, About 11 years ago

Jeremy. I know what you mean with your last comment. Personally I don't understand all the fuss. Its January 9th and I've yet to bump into my first Bulgarian. Mind you, we've only been in Bulgaria for three days.

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Jamie M

15:45 PM, 9th January 2014, About 11 years ago

Ha ha ha very good Tom

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NewYorkie

16:04 PM, 9th January 2014, About 11 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Jamie Moodie" at "09/01/2014 - 14:08":

Jamie, I couldn't have put it better!

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